Cacho Fontana is dead: the story of Odol Question, the program that consecrated him

question about odollothe springboard launched chub Fontana to fame, it was one of the pioneering programs of Argentine television. It debuted in 1956, when small-screen broadcasts had only been around for five years. Fontana died this Tuesday, July 5, at the age of 90.

On a tour of Canale 7, Canale 13 and Canale 11, it was the first round of questions and answers from local TV.

Many things were associated with the program, most notably Cacho Fontana, one of its guests. Even though he wasn’t the only one driving question about odollo (as well as Carlos D’Agostino, Nicolás “Pipo” Mancera, Silvio Soldán, Antonio Carrizo, Blackie and Héctor Larrea, among others), Fontana’s image and the program he conducted between 1963 and 1973 are closely linked forever.

It certainly has to do with the style and rhythm he gave to the program and the peculiar way of pronouncing many of the catchphrases that were so popular at the time. One of them was Odol minute in the air (with the el well marked) when the countdown for the participant’s response has begun. And the other, Insecurity!, when the answer was correct.

The announcer once said that the well-marked L was instinctive and stemmed from its own sonority: “I didn’t know where to stop. I really felt that way,” he said. Instead, the final crutch was his idea of ​​him having to argue at length with a producer that he believed would not be effective. “Insecurity“the manufacturer was wrong.

But Cacho Fontana’s success at the head of the cycle was about not to happen when the pilot hesitated, at first, to accept the proposal.

When the offer came, which included a significant salary, Fontana was pleased with his job as part of the stable cast of Radio El Mundo announcers. It was his dream come true and the switch to television, which required exclusivity, put him in a dilemma.

It was a friend and colleague, Iván Casado, who pushed him to accept the opportunity he had in front of him and which he held for almost 20 years, always in an impeccable tuxedo in front of the camera.

According to the Association of Argentine Television and Radio Journalists (APTRA), in the 24 seasons that question about odollo was on the air 158 topics were addressed (ranging from the animal kingdom to quantum physics), had 442 entrants and 66 winners. And as Fontana himself told in an interview, the dynamics of the cycle (which according to him “rewards the knowledge of him”) was very demanding.

“It was the people who signed up, who had a previous exam. There was a final analysis and there the candidate went to the final stage of the people who were for the same topic. Then the characters appeared and they got me. asked the questions that were in an envelope Here’s how the program was put together, “he explained. A jury has finished completing the team.

Its most famous participant was Claudio María Domínguez. At that time, far from the character who today arouses controversy, he was a child prodigy who seemed to know everything about Greek and Roman mythology, just eight years old. On the day he had to answer the final question, the program achieved 56 rating points. As an adult, Domínguez also had the position of bicycle rider that had rewarded him.

The program, sponsored by the toothpaste brand, began with the award of a prize of 100,000 pesos (national currency of 1956) up to five million (from the early 1980s). The jingle that was heard for years as part of the program was: “How beautiful your teeth are, said the moon to the sun, and the sun answered smiling, ah, I wash them with Odol“

In addition to the award in tickets for the competitors, it was a source of pride to be called up and answer on a specific topic because then came his moment of fame and also new job opportunities. The number of people from all over the country who signed up, plus the previous requirement to enter the contest, kept them waiting many years before being invited to participate.

From 2018 Fontana was in talks to return to the screen, from Public TV, with a new version of the legendary question about odollo. But in the end, the project didn’t work out.